


i have loved you for a thousand years

by BookLover86



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Falling in love time and time again, Fate, Fluff and Angst, M/M, small angst though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-16
Updated: 2017-08-16
Packaged: 2018-12-16 01:34:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11818437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BookLover86/pseuds/BookLover86
Summary: Lance couldn’t help but stare at the black-haired guy who had run into him. For some reason, he had looked eerily familiar to Lance, as if they’d seen each other before. The other guy obviously had the same idea, as he pointed a finger at Lance and said, “I’ve seen you before.” Lance stood up, grabbing his bag off the floor. “Well, either you’re a stalker or we’ve met already, and I think I would remember seeing that mullet.”





	i have loved you for a thousand years

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheBandIsHot1234](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBandIsHot1234/gifts).



> DISCLAIMER: I do not own, nor do I claim ownership of any of these characters, settings, names, etc. Title is from "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri.

     Keith was going to murder the prince, and no one would fault him. 

     Years ago when he was only a ten, he had pledged his life in order to protect the life of the prince. At that point in time, he had considered it an honor. Now he knew what it really meant: he was practically the boy’s mother. 

     He was responsible for keeping Prince Lance out of any kind of trouble, which was getting increasingly difficult as the prince grew up and realized that he wasn’t hideous looking. That realization combined with his almost unwaverable confidence, and Lance had become an insufferable flirt inside and outside the castle. There was only a few handful of people in the kingdom that Lance hadn’t tried his moves on. 

     They were the lucky few. Keith, however, wasn’t in that small group, as Lance seemed to have a daily mission of making Keith blush from compliments. He had gotten used to it, though (he really hadn’t), but when Queen Allura, Prince Lance’s sister, told Keith that he was responsible to getting Lance to stop flirting with every moving thing, his job became ten times harder. 

     It was like herding an excited dog away from a forest of trees and failing at it. Lance flirted with whatever and whomever he wanted to. That’s what he told Keith when Keith had pulled him away from a blushing village girl by the ear. 

     It wasn’t all bad, though. Lance was funny and sometimes nice to him. He had a charismatic personality and a witty mind. One day, he would make a fine king, but in order to be a king, he had to have a queen. And that’s where the trouble came in, as, unfortunately, Lance wasn’t exactly interested in having a queen. 

     Sure, Lance had confided in Keith during a late night conversation that he found both men and women attractive, but there was the tiny problem of whom exactly Lance was currently interested in. This was a problem that Keith couldn’t solve, no matter how hard he tried, mainly because he  _ was _ the problem--or, more specifically, Keith was the reason Lance wasn’t exactly cheerfully browsing the marriage department. 

     Everyone in the castle knew that the relationship between prince and knight had gotten a little more intimate since the last year, but they also knew this would never last. All the servants loved Lance, and, by default, Keith. However, the nobles and some of the middle-class residents were not so open-minded. 

     That’s why Keith was currently hiding underneath Lance’s bed while the prince talked to a visiting noble. 

     It was very late at night--way too late for Keith to be in the prince’s room--and the noble was leaving early tomorrow morning, but still had to talk to Lance about one thing or another. 

     Keith and Lance hadn’t been able to properly be with each other in at least a month, so they were a little too lax about their surroundings, which ended in Lance shoving Keith off the bed and kicking him underneath it when a knock sounded at his door. Keith had about snatched Lance’s ankles to make him trip, but that would’ve given the both of them away. 

     So, the knight sat there, fuming, staring at the slates of the bed he’d only ever been on top of. It was a good ten minutes before the noble finally bid Lance goodnight and the door closed. Lance leaned down to look underneath the bed. “Are you still alive down there?” 

     “I could kill you, and no one would prosecute me.” 

     Lance snorted. “I’d like to think Allura would have a tiny problem with that.” 

     Keith crawled out from beneath the bed with as much dignity as he could, which wasn’t much. “I guarantee you that she’d be the first to thank me.”

     Lance began running his fingers through Keith’s hair, trying to get the dust out. Keith closed his eyes and leaned into the touch of the prince. “Hunk wouldn’t be very happy with you.” 

     “Are you kidding me? He’ll actually get a break from cooking. I think he’d be ecstatic.” 

     “Shiro would definitely miss me.” 

     “He would be able to get a break from fixing your messes. Don’t think he’d be too sad.” 

     “Maybe Katie?” Keith looked at Lance, arching one of his eyebrows. Lance shook his head. “Yeah, you’re right. They wouldn’t care if the castle burned down around them.” 

     Keith grabbed Lance’s hands and rested his forehead against the prince’s. The two of them stood there for a while, just enjoying each other’s company. 

     “So the noble’s daughter is coming up three days from now?” Keith asked. 

     Lance winced. “Yeah. They want us to marry for an alliance. I’m not going to.” 

     Keith pulled away. “Lance…” 

     Lance scowled. “No. I don’t want to marry anyone but you, and since I can’t, then I’m not gonna get married.”  Keith sighed, shaking his head. They’ve had this conversation before, and it always ended the same way. Tonight was not the night for that though. 

     “We can talk about this later,” Keith murmured, pressing his lips to Lance’s, “but right now, we have some more important things to do.” Lance laughed, but complied. 

     The two didn’t know that the night they spent together would be their last. 

     The next day, an assassin snuck into the castle, trying to take out Prince Lance. Keith noticed the knife and threw himself in front of his lover. He died of his wounds a few hours later. Lance couldn’t handle his grief and ran away from the castle. 

     They never found him again.

* * *

     The next time the lovers found each other was on a battlefield. 

     It was now the year 1941, the middle of World War II. Lance was one of the best snipers on the Allied side, with over a hundred kills under his belt. Keith was a highly-skilled combatants officer who spent too much time in the trenches. 

     The two were childhood friends who enrolled in the war together, but it’d been over a year since they’d last seen each other. Their separate paths in the military took them in different ways, and they were lucky if they knew the other was alive. 

     One day, the trench Keith was stationed in was hit with canisters of newly made mustard gas. 

     No one made it out alive. 

     Lance was beyond distraught, not even allowed to attend the funeral of his closest friend. He was killed by another sniper not two months later. 

     The two hadn’t even gotten to experience their first kiss in this life.

* * *

 

     Lance considered himself to be a smart kid, and he knew that what he was doing was the stupidest thing ever--almost no one would really accept them, even though it was 1983--but he couldn’t resist. He blamed Keith, with his stupid hair and his stupid tattoos and stupid leather jacket that he almost never took off. 

     Lance was not at fault when he first met Keith behind an arcade. The black-haired punk was leaning up against a wall, Doc Martens on his feet as he smoked a cigarette on the side of his mouth where no piercings existed yet. He had caught Lance staring at him incredulously and flashed a smirk before he darted out of Lance’s sight. 

     Lance wasn’t at fault when he couldn’t stop thinking about the strange boy and the colorful ink that was wrapped around his neck. 

     Lance wasn’t at fault when said boy cornered him at the arcade a week later, slipping a small piece of paper into his hand while he whispered a name into his ear. 

_      Keith. _ His name was Keith, and the paper he gave Lance had an address, a date, and a time. A meeting place. 

     Lance wasn’t at fault when he met up with Keith at said place, just to see what the guy was like. 

     Lance wasn’t at fault when the two of them talked for hours about their lives, quickly forming a strong bond. Lance went home that night with a smile on his face and a new friend. 

     Lance wasn’t at fault when he refused to introduce Keith to his conservative parents, because he knew they wouldn’t approve. But he did introduce him to his other friends. Hunk didn’t trust Keith at first, but they became friendly eventually; Pidge was fascinated with his tattoos and piercings, so it was safe to assume that they had no problems with the punk. 

     Likewise, Keith introduced Lance to some of his friends and family, namely his brother Shiro and his sister-in-law Allura. The both of them were really nice and accepting, and Lance saw a new side of Keith around the two of them. 

     This Keith smiled a lot more and made cheesy jokes while play-fighting with Shiro. This Keith allowed Allura to braid his hair and put eyeliner on him. This Keith only made the funny feelings in Lance’s gut grow. 

     Lance wasn’t at fault when he met Keith late at night, and the latter just gave him a look that made Lance’s stomach twist before leaning forward and kissing him. 

     All of that was one-hundred percent Keith’s fault. 

     But it was Lance’s fault when he kissed back. 

     It was Lance’s fault when he gasped into Keith’s mouth, hands running over naked shoulders and toying with black hair.

     It was Lance’s fault when they snuck kisses that tasted of smoke and cheap candy behind the arcade. 

     It was Lance’s fault when his grades dropped because of how much time he was spending with Keith instead of with his homework. 

     It was Lance’s fault when his parents found out that he had been hanging out with Keith and yelled at him. 

     It was Lance’s fault when Keith stood up to his parents and got slapped by Lance’s father. 

     It was Lance’s fault when he cried into Keith’s shoulder that night, when Keith just held him instead of tending to his own bruising face. 

     It was Lance’s fault when he wrote two letters and mailed them to Hunk and Pidge, apologies for what he was about to do. 

     It was Lance’s fault when he packed a bag and stole money from his mother’s purse. 

     It was Lance’s fault when he snuck out to meet Keith at a train station, kissing him under the cover of darkness as they boarded the train to just leave. 

     But it _was_ Keith’s fault, years and years later, when their adopted daughter somehow got into a habit of wearing black.

* * *

 

     When he woke up this morning, Lance did not expect that he would now be sitting on his ass, his really expensive books thrown across the cold floor, as a really cute boy was in the same position he was. Well, people always told him that college would be interesting. 

     Still, Lance couldn’t help but stare at the black-haired guy who had run into him. For some reason, he had looked eerily familiar to Lance, as if they’d seen each other before. The other guy obviously had the same idea, as he pointed a finger at Lance and said, “I’ve seen you before.” 

     Lance stood up, grabbing his bag off the floor. “Well, either you’re a stalker or we’ve met already, and I think I would remember seeing that mullet.” 

     The boy furrowed his eyebrows--how did that make him look better--and began to help Lance pick up his books. “I’m not a stalker. You just seem familiar.”

     Lance shrugged, shoving his books into his bag before slinging it onto his shoulder. “Maybe we’ve seen each other around campus before.” 

     The boy--Lance was just going to start calling him “Mullet”--raised an eyebrow. “I’m a Chem Major. My classes are on the opposite side of the campus. I’d have absolutely no reason to be in the art buildings.” 

     Lance gave him a deadpan look. “Then why are you here now?” 

     Mullet immediately ducked his head, rubbing at his neck. “Uh, for luck?” 

     “Huh?” 

     “Well, my step-brother went to this college, and he told me that some people have a good luck ritual of sorts. They, um, they all come to the main art building and…lick the mural exactly one week before their finals.” 

     Lance looked at Mullet for a few seconds before doubling over in laughter. Mullet sputtered unintelligently. “It’s not funny!” 

     Lance shook his head, smiling. “Are you kidding? It’s freaking hilarious. Your bro was pulling your leg. There’s no ritual like that.” 

     Mullet began to curse underneath his breath. Who knew someone with such an outdated hairstyle had a mouth like a sailor? “Dammit. I’m sorry.” 

     Lance softly punched Mullet on the shoulder, shocking him out of his expletive rant. “Dude, it’s cool. Pranks are an essential part of life.” 

     Mullet rolled his eyes. “Maybe for you.” 

     Lance grinned and stuck out his hand. “The name’s Lance. Art Major, obviously.” 

     Mullet took his hand, smiling weirdly at Lance. The guy’s hand should  _ not _ be that soft for someone so rough. “Keith. Majoring in Chemistry, as you already know.” 

     Lance nodded, tilting his head. “Well, nice to meet ya, Keith.” 

     Mullet--Keith--shoved his hands into the pockets of his red leather jacket. “Back at you.” 

     Lance shifted his feet, checking the time. “Well, it seems like you’ll need someone to tell you when you’re being pranked, so why don’t I give you my number?”  Keith looked surprised, but he held out his phone without a word. Lance quickly punched his number in and gave the phone back with a sincere smile. “Just text me whenever. Anyways, I’ve gotta get to class. See you.” 

     Keith pocketed his phone, his eyes gleaming with something like amusement. “Bye, Lance.” 

     Lance turned away, now running to his class. He was not going to give Keith his number, but it had just seemed like the right decision. That black-haired Chem Major interested him more than Lance would like to admit, but, for some reason, talking to him just felt  _ right. _ Who knew? Maybe it was fate that they met. Maybe it was some higher powers at work. 

     Maybe, just maybe, Lance and Keith would mean more to each other as the time went on. 

* * *

   Centuries passed and the two lovers encompassed countless lifetimes and even more love stories. Not all of them would end happily, and not all of them would end in tears.

     However many more times they must meet and fall in love again, they will; because, in the end, they only had one heart between them. One heart for two bodies, bodies that felt empty without the other beside them. 

     Love is such a beautiful thing, isn’t it?

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY
> 
> to one of my really good friends, TheBandIsHot1234/Optimistically-KK! It's a little late, but at least I got it out there! 
> 
> Anyways, this was requested by KK (and by requested, I sent her a list of ships and AUs and told her to pick one of each), and I'm pretty proud of how it turned out, considering I had no plan of action when I started writing. If I'm being honest, the 1980's era was my favorite to write with Punk!Keith. I had a lot of fun with those characters. Also my first Voltron entry! More will be on the way, once I get to writing them, lol. 
> 
> Thank you guys so much for reading this. Please leave comments if you loved it or hated it. I love reading all types of comments. They either make my day or show me ways to improve.
> 
> BookLover86, Out! ;)


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